When I was a child, I always enjoyed watching reruns of the popular 1970s television program In Search Of… (so much, in fact, that to this day as I conduct research I imagine Leonard Nimoy narrating my endeavors… just kidding). Of all the fascinating subjects that were divulged by Alan Lansburg and Co. during the run of the program, one of my favorite subjects dealt with what was called the “Coso Artifact.” Essentially, this was a small stone which, according to Wallace Lane, Virginia Maxey, and Mike Mikesell who discovered it, had been mistaken for being a geode up until the destruction of a diamond cutting tool used while trying to slice through the mineral. Upon realizing something hard was encased within, X-ray photography later revealed that, curiously, the stone contained a spark plug. Supposition as to how a manufactured object could have been present so many centuries ago, especially long enough for mineral formations to occur around it, created a sensation that would last several years.

The object was eventually proven not to be of the vintage once believed, as evidenced by other instances where similar findings could be ruled out more easily. J.M. Cronyn’s 1990 book The Elements of Archaeological Conservation discussed many instances where modern-looking machined objects have been discovered within stone or hard mud (called nodules) obviously encased during a period spanning mere decades, rather than centuries or more.

This single event certainly was enough to get my mind stirring, and since learning of the Coso Artifact I’ve been fascinated by various instances where seemingly ancient advanced technology has been discovered, whether it be at excavation sites, or merely remote parts of the world where modern man would least expect them to be uncovered. Discoveries like the famous “Bagdad Battery”, or prehistoric nanotechnology encased within rock samples from Russia, or even clothed human-like footprints discovered alongside those of dinosaurs as discussed in the books of Brad Steiger stimulate the imagination and challenge our curiosity, as well as our present understanding of the history of our world.

Recently, Gralien Report correspondent Randy Bishop shared with me a peculiar article along the same lines as those aforementioned instances, involving a strange series of pipe-like structures surrounding an apparent “pyramid” in China. Heading southeast of Delingha in the Qinghai Province of China, one will eventually reach Mount Baigong, the home of our present mystery which, surprisingly, had remained unknown to outsiders until recent years. The “discovery” came about as a result of American scientists seeking dinosaur fossils in the area, who happened upon the pyramid-like structure and one of three cave entrances lining the front of the structure (two of the three cave entrances are inaccessible; only the largest, an 18-foot-high opening, was where the discovery was made). Within the structure, the discovery of pipes running through the largest cave, one a 16 inch in diameter “half pipe”, the other a pipe-like feature of a similar size. In addition, a great number of upright “pipes” between 4 and 16 inches in diameter were also noticed protruding from above the largest cave on the mountain.

More of these alleged “pipes” were found along the shore and beneath the nearby Toson Lake, oriented only a few hundred feet from the large cave. Along the beach “flat-lying, hollow, pipe-like features” were found, reddish-brown in color and lying with an east-west orientation. Initially, the reports the American scientists issued to area authorities were ignored, until a report finally appeared in the Henan Great River News in June of 2002. Conclusive analysis of the pipe structures has yet to be completed, although the area is now reportedly promoted as a tourist attraction with its odd OOParts (Out of Place Artifacts).

Some have gone so far as to suggest these structures are “a possible sign of extraterrestrial life having visited Earth,” but geologists suggest another possibility. Apparently, a naturally occurring hematite formation in Navaho Sandstone and other varieties of sandstone throughout the American Southwest produces a similar “rusted pipe” phenomenon. This occurs as the result of natural self-organization processes within sedimentary rock formations, occurring during the precipitation of iron oxides within the stone. Such pipe-like formations have been observed in the United States in both Utah and Louisiana. Could this be the same cause for the strange piping discovered on Mount Baigong also, or does the peculiar orientation of the structures within and around the mountain indeed represent something ancient mankind had innovated, perhaps with tools and instrumentation modern scientists take for granted?

To view the original article, please view the link below:

The Baigong Pipes- Nature or OOPart?